Trio of ISS Crew Members returns to Earth aboard Soyuz Spacecraft

September 11, 2013

Photo: NASA

Three International Space Station Crew Members returned to Earth on Wednesday, completing a six-month flight. Soyuz TMA-08M and its three crew members, Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy, made a flawless undocking, deorbit and landing Tuesday night to put an end to an eventful 166-day mission.

Soyuz TMA-08M and its crew undocked from the Poisk Module of the Station at 23:35 UTC on Tuesday, beginning a two-and-a-half-hour free flight to get ready for the Deorbit Burn that placed the vehicle on a trajectory to re-enter the atmosphere. Re-Entry was normal and the Soyuz made a parachute assisted landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan on Wednesday morning at 2:58 UTC.

The three Expedition 35/36 crew completed a busy tour of duty aboard the International Space Station that featured extensive science operations – setting a new record for the amount of science performed per week. In parallel, the Expedition featured maintenance and outfitting tasks that were completing inside the Station and outside the modules as part of a number of Spacewalks, both by the Russian and USOS crew members.

More than 160 scientific studies were supported by the Expedition 35/36 crew spanning across all fields including Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Technology, Biology and Biotechnology, Human Research and Educational and Cultural Activities. Often, the crew members act as test subjects themselves in order to study the effects of microgravity on the human body. Expedition 35/36 achieved a total science time of more than 40 hours per week which set a new record and surpassed the overall goal of 35 hours per week.

Vinogradov, a veteran of two previous long-duration missions, Misurkin, a space flight rookie, and Cassidy, a former US Navy SEAL with one previous Shuttle flight, launched atop a Soyuz FG rocket on March 28, 2013 at 20:43 UTC to start an express trip to the Space Station. Soyuz TMA-08M was the first manned mission to use the four-orbit rendezvous profile to bring the crew to the comforts of ISS quicker than the usual two-day rendezvous.

Strapped inside their Kazbek Seats, the trio completed a busy link-up with ISS – requiring them to stay inside their Sokol suits for the entire time with only few breaks in between maneuvers. After a flawless rendezvous culminating in a successful docking with the Poisk module of ISS at 2:28 UTC on March 29, the three crew members reported that the trip aboard Soyuz and the extremely long Flight Day was not a problem and not at all uncomfortable. It took the crew just five hours and 45 minutes from launch to docking.

In April, the crew members supported a major communications system upgrade – installing new equipment including Integrated Communications Units to fully commission the High Rate Communications System that was being worked on since 2012 – doubling the downlink bandwidth and adding more space-to-ground voice and video channels and new data handling capabilities. The crew members also oversaw the departure of the Progress M-17M cargo spacecraft in mid-April to vacate the Zvezda docking port for a Russian spacewalk that took place on April 19.

Cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko stepped outside as part of a 6.5-hour EVA during which they installed the Obstanovka plasma-wave experiment payload on the Zvezda Service Module, replaced a faulty retroreflector on Zvezda’s aft docking port, and they retrieved experiment payloads from the exterior of ISS.

Russian EVA-32

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

Progress M-19M

Photo: NASA

US EVA-21

Just two days after the EVA, the next Progress Spacecraft set sail for ISS being launched form Baikonur atop a Soyuz-U rocket. Progress M-19M encountered problems shortly after launch when one of its KURS navigation antennas did not deploy as expected – causing tensions to rise inside Mission Control as there was concern that the antenna could cause damage to the Station during docking. Two days after launch, Progress M-19M docked in backup automated mode and no damage was caused by the antenna.

In early May, another round of Robotic Refueling Mission Satellite Servicing Demonstrations was underway aboard ISS that marked the successful completion of RRM Phase I.

As the Expedition was just approaching its end, major excitement was emerging aboard ISS and Mission Control when the crew members reported a large leak in one of the Space Station’s Photovoltaic Thermal Control System loops. Instead of quietly preparing for their return to Earth, Marshburn and Hadfield pressed into contingency spacewalk preparations together with Chris Cassidy. Just two days after the leak on the 2B PVTCS ammonia loop was found, the crew members ventured outside to investigate the leak and try to find the faulty component that caused the leak.

Cassidy & Marshburn replaced a presumably leaky Pump Flow Control Subassembly to try and repair the system. Indications are that they successfully eliminated the leak. Their EVA was a complete success and demonstrated great teamwork by the crew in orbit and teams on the ground putting this EVA together in less than two days.

Soyuz TMA-07M departed ISS on May 13, 2013 for an overnight return to Earth with Romanenko, Hadfield and Marshburn.

Following the departure of Soyuz TMA-07M the Expedition 35 crew transitioned to Expedition 36 working as a three-person crew until May 28/29 when Soyuz TMA-09M made an overnight launch and docking delivering Fyodor Yurchikhin, Luca Parmitano and Karen Nyberg to ISS for their long duration mission.

Photo: NASA

On June 5, an Ariane 5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana, delivering the Automated Transfer Vehicle 4 cargo spacecraft to orbit for a nine-day free flight before docking to the aft end of Zvezda after it was vacated by Progress M-19M on June 10. ATV-4 delivered a total of 6,584kg of cargo to the International Space Station.

On June 24, Russian Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin stepped outside for the first of three Russian Spacewalks planned for Expedition 36. Russian EVA-33 was dedicated to the replacement of a Fluid Flow Regulator in the Zarya Thermal Control System Unit, the installation of cable clamps and fairleads across the Zarya module, the installation of the Indikator magnetic-discharge pressure transducer that will measure the concentration of of rarefied gas on the exterior of the space station, and the removal of the Photon Gamma Experiment from the Zvezda Module. The excursion had a duration of 6 hours and 34 minutes and achieved all objectives.

Next for the crew was a US-based spacewalk taking place on July 9. Chris Cassidy and Luca Parmitano went outside to complete a variety of tasks on the exterior of the US segment. They installed Space to Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller-2 to bring the high-data rate communications system of ISS back to its full capability after the failure of the SGTRC in 2012.

Also, the two Radiator Grapple Bars delivered by the most recent Dragon flight to ISS were installed on the port and starboard radiators for possible future replacement. The crew members also installed jumpers on the electrical systems of ISS, a protective cover on Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 and power cables for the MLM Module. They also removed the MISSE-8 science payload and a broken camera. The EVA was a complete success and was 6 hours and 7 minutes in duration. One week after EVA-22, Cassidy and Parmitano ventured outside again to complete the 23rd US Stage EVA which was comprised of a number of small tasks such as cable installations and equipment relocations.

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

The spacewalk was terminated after just over one hour when Luca Parmitano’s space suit helmet started filling up with water due to a leak within the Portable Life Support System creating a dangerous situation putting Parmitano at risk of drowning. After the EVA was terminated, Parmitano struggled to get back to the Airlock. “The water has also almost completely covered the front of my visor, sticking to it and obscuring my vision,” Parmitano wrote in his blog. “At that moment, as I turn ‘upside-down’, two things happen: the Sun sets, and my ability to see – already compromised by the water – completely vanishes, making my eyes useless; but worse than that, the water covers my nose – a really awful sensation that I make worse by my vain attempts to move the water by shaking my head. By now, the upper part of the helmet is full of water and I can’t even be sure that the next time I breathe I will fill my lungs with air and not liquid.”

Both crew members made it back inside safely and Luca Parmitano was able to get out of his suit in an expedited fashion to bring him back to the safety of ISS. After the EVA, a tireless Space suit troubleshooting process began to isolate the problem and make sure such a scenario will not repeat itself.

Russian EVA-33 & US EVAs 22 & 23

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

In late July, the crew members oversaw another Progress rotation as the M-18M spacecraft vacated the Pirs Docking Compartment to make room for Progress M-20M to enable it to make its delivery of fresh station supplies that included items for Spacesuit repairs on Parmitano’s EMU.

On August 3, the H-II Transfer Vehicle 4 spacecraft was delivered to Orbit by an H-II rocket launching from Japan for capture by the Space Station’s robotic arm five days later. HTV-4 delivered 5,400 Kilograms of cargo including three external payloads that were unloaded robotically over the course of a one-month long docked mission during which internal and external cargo operations were completed.

Just last week, HTV-4 was released by the Station’s robotic arm for a short free flight ahead of re-entry. HTV’s fiery demise was closely studied as it took place within the view of the Space Station – providing incredible images of HTV’s re-entry.

HTV-4 Re-Entry

Photo: NASA

On August 16 and 22, Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Aleksandr Misurkin completed Russian EVAs 34 and 35 performing a variety of activities on the Russian segment. They installed a number of power and data cables in preparation for the arrival of the Nauka Laboratory Module in 2014. They also removed the Laser Communications System and installed a Workstation with biaxial pointing platform on the Russian Service Module to host two telescopes in the future. Also, the crew members took samples from the exterior of ISS and inspected space-to-space antennas on the Russian Segment. Both EVAs were completely successful.

With these major operations complete, the crew members focused on science operations for the final weeks of Expedition 36 before beginning departure preparations which included checkouts of the Soyuz spacecraft, final cargo loading and procedure reviews to make sure all three crew members were up to speed on Soyuz Descent & Landing Operations.

To get ready for their overnight landing, the crew members adjusted their sleep cycles and slept in on Tuesday before beginning final preparatory steps for undocking. Final preparations completed on Tuesday included the activation of the Soyuz Spacecraft and final checkouts of its systems, making sure the vehicle was in proper condition for Free Flight and Entry. A number of time-critical experiment payloads, from the Russian Segment and the US side were stored in cold-bags and transferred to Soyuz at the last minute.

Then the moment of the final good-bye between the two crews came. Command of the Space Station was handed over by Pavel Vinogradov who led Expedition 36 to Fyodor Yurchikhin who will command Expedition 37 on Monday. As the two crews bid farewell, some emotions emerged among the two veteran Cosmonauts, Vinogradov and Yurchikhin, who have been working together for 15 years.

Once all crew members had floated to the correct side of the Soyuz hatch, the crew closed the two hatches of the Poisk Module and TMA-08M at 20:19 UTC to get ready for leak checks. The standard leak check took place while the three returning crew members donned their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits. Once leak checks were complete, they closed out the Orbital Module and strapped themselves into their seats and closed the hatch of the Entry Module and repeated leak checks on that hatch.

Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov entered the center seat to get ready for his third Soyuz landing, the second as commander.

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA TV

With his background in spacecraft engineering and previous space flight experience, Vinogradov was perfectly suited for the job. To his left, Aleksandr Misurkin was seated to close out his first space flight while Chris Cassidy was strapped into the right seat – getting ready for his first Soyuz landing after having flown on the Space Shuttle that provided quite a different landing experience.

With the crew inside their seats and all systems in undocking configuration, including ISS that maneuvered to the proper undocking orientation and handed control over to the Russian Segment, everything was ready for undocking on time. ISS went into Free Drift mode at 23:32 UTC.

*File Image* - Photo: NASA

*File Image* - Photo: NASA

One minute later, the Undocking Command was sent and the opening of hooks and latches was initiated to break the Hard-Mate between ISS and Soyuz that was established back on March 29. Physical Separation came at 23:37 UTC as springs pushed Soyuz and ISS apart.

Soyuz very slowly floated away from the Pirs Docking Compartment for three minutes before beginning a 15-second burn of its DPO engines to increase its opening rate to 0.6 meters per second in order to rapidly depart the vicinity of the International Space Station.

After completing Control System reconfigurations to transition from the Undocking to Free Flight mode, the three crew members settled in for two laps around Earth to increase the distance to the Station to 12 Kilometers in order to start the Deorbit Burn. The Station itself went through a range of maneuvers while the Soyuz was departing before settling in a slightly biased TEA attitude for communications relay during re-entry. Because of the Station’s high orbit of 415 Kilometers, communications were not expected to be favorable during entry which had been the case for most of the recent Soyuz landings.

Soyuz TMA-08M began its Deorbit Burn at 2:05 UTC Wednesday morning – igniting its SKD Main Propulsion System on a 4-minute 46-second retrograde burn to slow the Soyuz down by 128 meters per second which was just enough to allow it to drop out of orbit and hit the atmosphere. During the burn, Pavel Vinogradov reported SKD parameters to mission control as the system fired at full thrust of 300 Kilograms to slow the vehicle down. The burn was nominal and Soyuz was on its course toward the dense atmosphere – setting the crew members up for a turbulent ride home.

With this successful deorbit burn, the Soyuz and its crew members were committed to return to Earth with their altitude dropping and the vehicle getting ready to hit the atmosphere.

At an altitude of 140 Kilometers, at 2:32 UTC, the three modules of the Soyuz separated. The Service and Orbital Modules are not equipped with a heat shield and burn up on re-entry. Only the small 2.24 by 2.17-meter Entry Module is designed to survive re-entry. Inside the module, 3.5 cubic meters of habitable volume are available to the crew that has to share it with about 120 Kilograms of return cargo. Crew members describe the confined Entry Module as “cozy.”

Following module separation, the Entry Module re-oriented using its 24 Hydrogen Peroxide Thrusters to start entry at an angle of 1.35 degrees. Moments later, at 2:35 UTC, the vehicle hit entry interface and heat started to build up on the vehicle's thermal protection system. For the initial portion of re-entry, Soyuz holds its pre-bank angle before beginning a series of bank maneuver to dissipate energy on its way through the atmosphere. The crew members inside pull up to five Gs at that point which can be quite a strenuous experience after staying in Zero-G for six months. Typical effects felt by the crew members include labored breathing and talking.

Maximum Stress on the vehicle occurred about seven minutes after entry interface. Communications with the Soyuz were lost during re-entry as it is typically the case, but Soyuz performed well during the entire process.

During atmospheric flight, the Soyuz slowed down to about 240 meters per second. As the vehicle passed 10.6 Kilometers in altitude, Soyuz TMA-08M initiated its parachute deployment sequence – deploying its 4.5m² Pilot Chutes that pulled out the 16m² Drogue Chute to initially slow the vehicle down to 80 Meters per Second on its descent to Earth. Chute deploy was on time at 2:44 UTC. Once reaching the proper velocity at an altitude of about 7.5 Kilometers, the Soyuz deployed its main chute of 518m² that slowed the vehicle down to 6 meters per second. While flying under the main chute, things calmed down for the three crew members as the Soyuz transitioned to vertical descent.

The spacecraft jettisoned its heat shield to expose the Soft Landing Engines and its altimeter to acquire altitude and velocity data. The Soyuz vented its Hydrogen Peroxide tanks to make sure the toxic propellant can not harm recovery forces after landing. Also, when passing five Kilometers, the pressure equalization valve was opened.

Moments before landing, the seat liners inside the Soyuz moved into the landing position to absorb a portion of the Impact Load and just split-seconds before touchdown the Soft Landing Engines were fired which are solid rockets that cushion the landing slowing the vehicle down to its final landing speed of 2 to 4 meters per second.

Soyuz TMA-08M safely touched down at 2:58 UTC – making an on-target landing at the primary landing site east of the City of Dzhezkazgan. After touchdown, RSC Energia recovery forces rushed to the landing site with All-Terrain Vehicles and Helicopters to get to the crew as quickly as possible.

Within a matter of minutes, the Soyuz was surrounded by recovery personnel getting ready to open the hatch of the vehicle.

*File Image* - Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA TV

Photo: NASA

First to be extracted from the Spacecraft was commander Pavel Vinogradov who appeared to be in good condition following his third long duration mission bringing his total up to 546 days spent in space making him one of the most experienced Cosmonauts ever. He is also the oldest Cosmonaut every to fly in space having celebrated his 60th birthday on August 31 aboard ISS. With a single EVA performed on this flight and six during his previous missions, Vinogradov now has 37 hours 19 minutes of EVA time under his belt.Chris Cassidy was next to exit the Soyuz, completing his first long duration mission after flying on the Shuttle once before. His new total time spent in space is 182 days with a total EVA time of 31 hours and 15 minutes. He also appeared to be in good condition after extraction from the Soyuz.

Photo: NASA TV

Last to exit the Soyuz was Aleksandr Misurkin boosting his total time spent in space to 166 Days and 6 Hours. During his flight he also accumulated 20 hours 3 minutes of EVA time. Following landing Misurkin was in good spirits with a big smile on his face.

The three crew members were placed in reclining chairs set up next to their Soyuz to have a breath of fresh air. Because weather conditions were not favorable, the crew members were quickly carried to the medical tent set up at the landing site. Inside the tent, they can get out of their Sokol suits and have their initial medical exams.

For Cassidy & Misurkin, the post-landing procedure has a built-in science activity as he will be going through a number of exercises to assess his physiological state shortly after landing.These basic exercises include getting up from a sitting or lying position and some jumping. These tests are used to determine how crew members would feel after landing on Mars after a six-month transit in microgravity to assess what type of activities they could perform shortly after landing.

Two hours after landing, the crew members will depart the landing site for Karaganda where they will part ways as Pavel Vinogradov and Aleksandr Misurkin board a plane to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and Chris Cassidy steps on a NASA plane flying back to Houston.

Space Station Crew starts Return Journey with successful Undocking

September 10, 2013

Soyuz TMA-08M and a trio of Space Station crew members have begun their trip back to Earth following their six-month tour of duty aboard ISS. Expedition 35/36 crew members Pavel Vinogradov,Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy undocked aboard their Soyuz on Tuesday at 23:35 UTC to start a short free flight ahead of deorbit, descent and landing.

The day aboard ISS started with a final set of preparations including the activation of the Soyuz spacecraft and final cargo loading. Following their final preparations for return, the three crew members entered their Soyuz spacecraft and closed the hatches between the Soyuz and the Poisk Module of ISS.

Hatch closure came at 20:19 UTC and leak checks were started along with final Soyuz checkouts and Sokol suit donning. Soyuz was transferred to autonomous power and the crew members strapped themselves into their Kazbek seat liners inside the Entry Module. They closed the hatch to the Orbital Module and started their undocking checklist.

Photo: NASA/Karen Nyberg

The undocking command was sent at 23:33 UTC and hooks and latches started opening for physical separation that occurred on time at 23:35 UTC. Following the nominal undocking, Soyuz performed separation burns to rapidly depart the vicinity of the Space Station to set the stage for the Deorbit Burn that is planned for 2:05 UTC on Wednesday after two laps around Earth. Landing is planned to occur at 2:58 UTC to bring an end to a 166-day space flight.

Soyuz TMA-08M & three ISS Residents prepare to Return to Earth

September 9, 2013

The three International Space Station Expedition 35/36 Crew Members are making final preparations for their return to Earth. Soyuz TMA-08M and its three crew members Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy will return to Earth Tuesday night – undocking from ISS at 23:37 UTC on Tuesday and landing in Kazakhstan at 2:58 UTC Wednesday morning.

The trio of Space Station Residents began final preparations for their return to Earth about two weeks ago by starting to pack cargo items for return. Return cargo brought back aboard Soyuz consists of science payloads and samples of ISS water, air and surfaces as well as other experiment samples and data cards. Additionally, the Orbital Module was loaded with trash to burn up on re-entry.

The crew members also started procedure reviews to get up to speed on descent and landing procedures performing the nominal Descent Drills, simulating various re-entry and landing scenarios to make sure all crew members know the required procedures.

Photo: NASA

In addition to personal departure preparations, the three crew members finished their final fit checks of their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits and Kazbek Seat Liners, making adjustments when necessary to ensure the seats can provide their shock absorbing capabilities during Landing.

Photo: NASA

Soyuz Systems testing is also performed as part of final return preparations. This checkout includes flight computer verifications and a test of all thrusters of the vehicle - firing all of them for a brief moment to make sure all are functioning. Final Soyuz checkouts will come after Soyuz activation on Tuesday.

As part of their final preparations for return, the joint Expedition 36 crew will participate in the Change of Command Ceremony on Monday. Expedition 36 commander Pavel Vinogradov will hand command of ISS over to veteran Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin who will lead Expedition 37. Vinogradov who is returning aboard Soyuz TMA-08M celebrated his 60th birthday aboard ISS on August 31 – he is the oldest Cosmonaut in history to fly to space. The Change in Command Ceremony will be live on NASA TV on Monday at 18:25 UTC.

For their late-night departure, the entire ISS crew will adjust their sleep cycles in order to support undocking operations. After waking up on Tuesday, Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy will activate their Soyuz and go through a number of checkouts including voice checks with Russian ground stations as well as extensive systems checks. At about 20:20 UTC, the crew members will part ways as the Soyuz crew floats inside their vehicle and hatches are closed to enable the standard leak check to begin.

The Soyuz Crew will make final checks of the vehicle's systems before donning their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits and strapping themselves into their Seat Liners. They will close the hatch between the Soyuz re-entry module and the orbital module to get ready for undocking.

Once all tests are complete and after the Space Station is handed to Russian Control for the transition to its undocking attitude, the crew members will receive the final go-ahead for undocking.

At 23:33 UTC - one minute before the undocking command is issued, the Space Station switches to free drift to prevent any inadvertent thruster firings at separation. The undocking command is sent three minutes before separation and initiates the opening of hooks and latches to break the hard-mate between Soyuz and ISS that was formed back on March 29 when Soyuz TMA-08M arrived at ISS after a record-setting four-orbit rendezvous and docking.

Physical Separation will occur at 23:37 UTC as springs push the Soyuz away from the Pirs Module. After two minutes, at a range of 20 meters, the Soyuz performs a 0.5-meter per second separation burn to increase its opening rate to rapidly depart the vicinity of the Space Station.

During two orbits of free flight, the Soyuz increases its distance to ISS to 12 Kilometers to set the stage for the deorbit burn. The Soyuz will fire its SKD main propulsion system at 2:05 UTC to perform a 4-minute 46-second deorbit burn to slow down by 128 meters per second - placing the Soyuz on a trajectory to intercept the atmosphere.

Just before Entry Interface, the modules of the Soyuz will separate and the Entry Module will move to the correct Entry Attitude.

After completing atmospheric entry, the Soyuz will deploy its Parachutes, drop its heat shield and get ready for touchdown, firing its Soft Landing Engines split-seconds before impact. Landing at the Steppes of Kazakhstan is planned to occur at 2:58 UTC on Wednesday. Recovery forces will immediately start post-landing operations to extract the crew that will have completed their long duration Space Mission at that point.

*FIle Image* - Photo: NASA

Soyuz TMA-08M & three new ISS Residents dock to Station in Record Time

March 29, 2013

*File Image* - Photo: NASA

Photo: CSA/Chris Hadfield

Soyuz Launch seen from ISS

The three International Space Station Expedition 35/36 crew members have arrived at the orbiting outpost aboard their Soyuz TMA-08M Spacecraft - reaching the Space Station after the first-of-its-kind four-orbit rendezvous for a manned ISS flight. Soyuz TMA-08M executed a flawless rendezvous profile following its launch at 20:43 UTC on Thursday. The fully automated Rendezvous culminated in the docking of the vehicle at 2:28 UTC on Friday morning, setting a new record for the fastest manned docking for the Space Station Program. After being inserted into a 200.76 by 246.76-Kilometer Orbit, trailing ISS by just under 2,000 Kilometers, Soyuz TMA-08M began a busy series of maneuvers and checkouts. Immediately after spacecraft separation and solar array & antenna Deployment, the crew started a sequence to check out the KURS navigation system of the vehicle while they were still in range of Russian Tracking Stations. KURS checked out well and the crew, led by Commander Pavel Vinogradov, prepared for the first in a series of six rendezvous and phasing burns. Because Soyuz was inserted into an orbit at a small phase angle to that of ISS, the traditional two-day rendezvous and phasing sequence can be accomplished in just four orbits.

Rendezvous Burn 1 came up at T+42 minutes, followed by the second burn at T+83 minutes, changing the vehicle's speed by about 24.0 and 13.2 m/s, respectively. These burns propelled the Soyuz into a higher orbit to allow it to get closer to the Station's orbital altitude while still closing in on the Station as a result of the smaller radius of its orbit.

During the second pass over Russian Ground Stations, 90 minutes after launch, the orbital parameters of the Soyuz were determined and all subsequent maneuvers were adjusted based on the new tracking data. Two more ~7m/s SKD engine firings occurred during the second orbit, bringing the Soyuz into an 286 by 309-Kilometer orbit -setting the stage for the initiation of the automated Rendezvous Sequence of the Soyuz Spacecraft at 00:26:29 UTC on Friday morning.

Just six minutes thereafter, the fifth Rendezvous Burn was performed with a delta-V of around 22m/s to further increase the altitude of the Soyuz. After a trajectory correction at 0:57, the KURS System on ISS and the Soyuz was activated and at 1:16 UTC, the VHF voice link between ISS and Soyuz was established for communications relay to Mission Control. The largest Rendezvous Burn of the mission came at 1:18 UTC and was a ~35m/s firing to boost to Soyuz to an altitude nearly matching that of ISS. The KURS A&P Systems went through their nominal short tests to verify that valid navigation data was provided to the Soyuz computers. At a range of 8 Kilometers, the TV System of the Soyuz was activated giving Pavel Vinogradov a view of what lies in front of the Soyuz.

As the Soyuz got closer to ISS, orbital mechanics caused the vehicle to slow down relative to ISS as planned in the mission profile as its altitude reached that of the Station. At the ballistic targeting point, relative velocity between Soyuz and ISS would zero-out and to continue to approach the Station, Soyuz TMA-08M performed three engine impulses of 7.31, 5.8 and 1.9m/s between 1:59 and 2:09 UTC. As the vehicle got close to ISS, the three crew members were back in their seats and monitoring the activities, making sure that the automated rendezvous sequence was going smoothly. Vinogradov was ready to assume manual control of the Soyuz to bring it in for a manual docking in case of any problems.

At 2:11 UTC, Soyuz TMA-08M reached 400 meters to ISS and initiated its Flyaround of ISS to align itself with the Poisk Docking Compartment. The 5-minute victory lap around the station was followed by a roll maneuver to properly position the solar arrays of the vehicle for the docked mission. At a range of 190 meters, Soyuz TMA-08M initiated a short Stationkeeping period for a check of its systems and alignment with Poisk.

As on most Russian Dockings, the Stationkeeping was originally planned to be 5 minutes in duration, but was shortened as alignment was perfect and Soyuz was generally in great shape.

Pulsing its thrusters at 2:19 UTC, the Soyuz initiated its final approach to docking, closing in at a very gently relative velocity to cover the final 190 meters to docking. During final approach, the Soyuz used its attitude control system to keep the crosshairs in perfect alignment with the docking target on ISS Poisk. The KURS antenna was retracted and Soyuz slowed down to 0.1m/s for contact and capture.

At 2:28 UTC while the Station was passing high above the Pacific Ocean - about to pass over Ecuador , the Soyuz TMA-08M Spacecraft docked with ISS - just 5 hours and 45 minutes after launch. Setting a new record for the fastest manned docking in ISS history, the three crew members, Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy, arrived at their destination quicker than a commercial airline passenger on a plane could cross the Atlantic.

*File Image* - Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

Star Trail Image featuring a docked Soyuz & Progress

Overall, this was the fourth expedited rendezvous in ISS history as Soyuz TMA-08M was preceded by fast dockings of three Progress Spacecraft to demonstrate the four-orbit rendezvous sequence. Progress M-16M is still holding the record for fastest ISS docking with 5 hours and 43 minutes.

Following docking, relative motion between ISS and the Soyuz was allowed to dampen out before the docking probe of the spacecraft was retracted. Hooks and latches are closed to form a hard mate between the Soyuz and ISS to set the stage for the standard one-hour leak check to make sure all seals are tight. Hatch opening is planned at 4:10 UTC, one and a half hours after docking.

In the meantime, the three new ISS residents will egress their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits that they were wearing since T-4 hours and 20 minutes, for a total time in these suits of close to 11 hours. After their arrival aboard ISS, the crew members are expected to provide some feedback on how they felt wearing the suits for such a long period of time. The Sokol is known to get relatively hot if the ventilation system is not set-up perfectly to cool down the crew members that are spending the majority of their time in the Entry Module scrunched into their Kazbek Seats. Also, the Sokol is tailored to allow crew members to get tight into their seat liners, thus preventing a full range of motion.

During their rendezvous, the crew members were able to loosen their straps and float inside the Entry Module to relieve some of the discomfort that comes with spending several hours inside the Kazbek seat. Also, the crew had the option to open the hatch to the Orbital Module briefly to use its toilet facility. In fact, they were able to go 'upstairs' one at a time to do their business in about 30 minutes as it can get quite complicated to use the restroom when wearing the Sokol. In between Rendezvous Burns, one crew member was able to enter the OM and get back down before the next burn.

Whether the four-orbit rendezvous was a problem from a physical and mental standpoint will be discussed by the crew to help decide whether future missions should use the same profile.

Roscosmos is planning to approve the expedited rendezvous for all future manned missions, but they will have detailed analyses to make sure the advantages are greater than the discomfort the crew experiences. Russian Ballisticians are also looking at potential three-orbit or even one-orbit rendezvous techniques, but these are still in development and are not expected to be seen in flight in the near future as faster rendezvous bring along a new set of challenges regarding orbital maneuvers and safety of ISS and Soyuz.

Photo: NASA

Once entering the Space Station and receiving a welcome by the three Soyuz TMA-07M crew members of Expedition 34/35, Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko, the three new crew members will have been awake for 17 hours.

They will participate in the traditional welcoming ceremony before the mandatory ISS safety briefing takes place being conducted by Commander Chris Hadfield who will discuss emergency response procedures and the location of safety equipment. Later, the newly arrived crew members will set up their Sokols for drying out and transfer time-critical experiment materials from Soyuz to facilities aboard ISS. Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov will deactivate the Soyuz Spacecraft for its stay aboard ISS. To finish their day, the new crew members will outfit their crew quarters before going to bed between 8 and 9 UTC on Friday.

The crew will have an off duty day for the rest of Friday to sync up their sleep schedules back to nominal UTC time and to catch some well deserved rest after an eventful and historic journey to the Space Station for their 167-day mission.

As part of Expedition 35/36, the crew will be a part of one of the busiest post-assembly increments as the crew will be supporting a busy science routine aboard ISS, support normal maintenance, tackle a busy visiting vehicle schedule and perform six or seven EVAs to outfit the exterior of the space station.

"We've got a lot going on. We have the potential to see every possible, manned and unmanned, vehicle that can come to the space station and participate in the capture or the rendezvous and the cargo transfer and then watch those vehicles head off on those missions," said Chris Cassidy ahead of his flight. "Couple that with seven possible spacewalks for the entire crew, four on the Russian side, three potential EVAs on the American side."

Indeed, the crew will be very busy. The crew will be handling more than 150 experiments that have been lined up for Expeditions 35/36, spanning across all fields of science with particular focus on Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, Technology, Biology and Biotechnology, Human Research and Educational and Cultural Activities. The crew will be supporting hundreds of scientific studies and experiments that are in progress aboard the Station - often acting as test subjects themselves performing different experiments to study the effects long duration space flight has on humans.

In addition to a busy science schedule, the crew will attend to nominal space station maintenance and take care of problems that come up along the way. Plus, to take care of external maintenance, the crew members will perform a number of spacewalks.

The first is coming up in April and will be performed by Roman Romanenko and Pavel Vinogradov who will install and retrieve external experiments and set up equipment for the long-awaited Obstanovka experiment to examine plasma component factors in near-Earth space. The next EVA, Russian EVA-33, is set for June as an excursion performed by Aleksandr Misurkin and Fyodor Yurchikhin (TMA-09M) to take care of a number of maintenance items such as removing the Photon-Gamma Experiment and replacing a fluid flow regulator on the Zarya Module. Also, they will perform a KURS System test and inspect the micrometeoroid shield of the Russian Segment. The next two EVAs will be back to back spacewalks by Chris Cassidy and Luca Parmitano (TMA-09M) in early July to route cables for the arrival of the Russian Nauka Experiment Module, replace a Space-to-Ground Transmitter Receiver Controller, install the grapple bars that were delivered by the most recent Dragon and perform smaller tasks such as camera reconfigurations.

Russian EVAs 34 and 35 will be performed in August to set up more equipment for Nauka and prepare the Pirs Module for its deorbit.

In addition to all these activities, the Expedition will see heavy traffic of visiting vehicles starting in April with the undocking of two Progress Vehicles, M-17M and M-18M, followed by the launch of M-20M later in April. In mid-May, the crew of Soyuz TMA-07M will bid farewell and come back to Earth after their long-duration mission. Soyuz TMA-09M, also planned to use the expedited Rendezvous Profile, is set to arrive at ISS on May 28. In June, the crew will welcome Albert Einstein, the fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle to fly to ISS.

Cygnus might perform its first demo flight to the Station in the summer - pending a good maiden voyage of its Antares launcher. In July, another Progress rotation takes place as M-19M departs ISS on July 23 and M-20 performs a same-day rendezvous one day later. In August, the Japanese HTV will perform its ISS resupply mission bringing a suite of high-profile cargo to ISS, both internal and external. In September, Soyuz TMA-08M is expected to undock from ISS and return to Earth to close-out its mission.

A detailed Expedition 35 Preview is available here for further reading and a similarly detailed overview of Expedition 36 will be published in April.

Three Crew Members on Expressway to ISS after flawless Soyuz Launch

March 28, 2013

Soyuz TMA-08M and its three crew members are on the expressway to the International Space Station following the successful launch of a Soyuz FG Rocket from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Soyuz FG blasted off at 20:43 UTC on Thursday and delivered the spacecraft to its target orbit less than nine minutes later - paving the way for the first manned four-orbit rendezvous in ISS history. Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy are set to dock with the Poisk Module of ISS at 2:32 UTC on Friday morning, after an expedited rendezvous in just four orbits instead of the traditional 34-orbit, two-day rendezvous. After the Soyuz was rolled to the launch pad on Tuesday, the launch vehicle was prepared for the countdown and its launch. Final cargo items were loaded into the Soyuz at the launch pad, including some time-critical experiment payloads for the Russian Segment.

Photo: NASA

The start of the week for the three crew members was relatively quiet as they underwent their final medical exams and completed conferences with mission control centers around the world to discuss upcoming operations aboard ISS. On Wednesday, both, the prime and backup crew, were approved for launch by the Russian State Commission.Spending a final night in a normal bed for a while, the three crew members tried to rest as best as possible ahead of an unusually long day of operations. With the expedited rendezvous, the Soyuz crew does not get many breaks from wake-up at T-8 hours and 30 minutes until well after docking 14.5 hours later. After waking up, the two Cosmonauts and single Astronaut enjoyed a their final shower and breakfast in the comforts of gravity before heading to space for six months.

When departing the Cosmonaut Hotel, the crew participated in the traditional pre-flight blessing by a Priest. Their Soyuz FG launcher received its blessing on Wednesday as part of a number of Russian pre-launch traditions that date back to the very beginning of the Soviet Space Program.

The crew went to Site 254 at the Cosmodrome to ingress their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits and perform the standard suit leak check.

Meanwhile, at the launch complex, technicians installed batteries on the Soyuz launch vehicle and performed initial systems checks. At T-5 hours and 30 minutes, the Russian State Commission conducted their final review of the status of launch preparations and gave the GO to begin launch vehicle propellant loading on time at T-5 hours.

Photo: NASA

The 12 tanks of the Soyuz launcher were filled with 282,200 Kilograms of Rocket-Grade Kerosene and Liquid Oxygen. In addition, the Boosters and Core Stage were loaded with Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitrogen. The former is used to drive the turbopumps of the RD-107A Booster engines and RD-108A Core Stage engine while Nitrogen is expended during flight to keep the tanks at flight pressure.

Propellant Loading did not hit any issues and the Soyuz started to change colors as its boosters and core stage showed the normal ice-build up caused by the supercold, -183° Celsius Liquid Oxygen. Gaseous Oxygen started venting as tanks were filled and the oxidizer naturally boiled off. At around T-3 hours, the fueling process concluded and the Kerosene tanking carts departed the launch pad. With that, the countdown entered a quiet period as the vehicle stood poised at its launch pad, waiting for the crew of three.

After they had ingressed their Sokol Suits, the crew met delegations present at the launch site before walking out of the 254 facility where Pavel Vinogradov reported the crew's readiness to the State Commission which is also part of the traditional launch procedure. The crew members boarded their bus to the launch pad.

They arrived at Gagarin's Start at T-2 hours 33 minutes and had a short chat and photo opportunity with Roscosmos and NASA officials before taking a last look at their launcher as it stood poised for liftoff. They posed for a final photo at the base of the launcher, waving good-bye ahead of their record-setting mission. They headed up to their Soyuz inside the Service Structure Elevator and immediately began crew ingress.

Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov was strapped into the center seat while board engineer Aleksandr Misurkin took the left and flight Engineer Chris Cassidy the right seat.

For Vinogradov, this was the third launch aboard Soyuz after having flown on the two previous versions of the vehicle, the TM and TMA models. In total, he had already logged 381 days in space aboard the Mir Space Station and later on ISS as Expedition 13 Commander. Visit Vinogradov's detailed biography here.

For Aleksandr Misurkin, this is the first space flight after his selection as Cosmonaut in 2006. His bio can be found here. NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy is a veteran of a single Space Shuttle Flight aboard Endeavour (STS-127) - spending nearly 16 days in space. This is his first Soyuz mission and first long-duration space flight. Learn more about Chris Cassidy here.

When the crew members had boarded their spacecraft, the hatch between the Entry Module and Orbital Module was closed before teams also closed the Orbital Module’s hatch to the outside world. When all hatches were closed, a set of extensive leak checks was completed to make sure the cabin was sealed properly. Another round of systems checks kicked off and 90 minutes before Launch, the Communication System of the Soyuz was activated and Internal Soyuz Pressure Checks began.

Once settled inside their vehicle, the crew was provided with music being pumped through the voice communications system of the Soyuz. One hour ahead of launch, the Soyuz underwent another round of testing and technicians made final vehicle and service structure close-outs. The protective halves of the Soyuz Service Structure were retracted at T-46 minutes to expose the fully fueled rocket.

30 minutes ahead of T-0, the launch abort system was activated and placed in safe mode before being commanded to automatic mode at T-15 minutes. Also 15 minutes ahead of Liftoff, Sokol Launch and Entry Suit Checks were completed and the Launch Pad was evacuated in preparation for ignition.

Six minutes ahead of launch, the terminal countdown sequence began for the Soyuz launcher and spacecraft to put the two vehicle through final reconfigurations ahead of blastoff. Telemetry Systems were activated and the Commander's Controls inside the Soyuz became active as well. The crew closed their helmets and switched to suit air at T-5 minutes and the launch key - which Soyuz still uses - was inserted inside the nearby launch bunker.

The engines of the Soyuz were conditioned for ignition by purging them with gaseous Nitrogen starting at T-3:15. The propellant tanks of the vehicle began pressurization to flight level at T-2:35 as fill&drain valves and safety valves were closed to allow pressure to build. Nitrogen Loading was terminated as well and the Onboard Measurement System was activated along with flight recorders.

One minute before launch, the Auto Sequencer was enabled and the launcher was in control of the countdown as it also switched from GSE power to battery power.

20 seconds before launch, the turbopumps of the four RD-108A on the Boosters and the single RD-107A on the Core Stage started to spin up with all engines entering the intermediate thrust level shortly thereafter. Engine start-up and throttling to Full Thrust by T-5 seconds was monitored by computers to ensure all engines reached operational conditions to allow Soyuz to lift off.

At precisely 20:43:20 UTC, the Soyuz lifted off and began its ascent mission, lighting up the night skies over the Baikonur Cosmodrome as it started this record-setting flight to ISS.

With its engines at full throttle, Soyuz FG has a liftoff thrust of 422,200 kilograms which is sufficient to lift the 49.5-meter tall launcher topped by the 7,200-kilogram Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft. After completing a short vertical ascent, Soyuz pitched over to align itself with its trajectory towards its precisely calculated orbital insertion point.

To enable Soyuz to perform an expedited rendezvous with ISS, the vehicle has to be inserted into a very precise orbit at a small phase angle to that of ISS. In addition, the planar window for an expedited rendezvous is also tight and Soyuz can't afford any large errors in terms of initial distance and speed to ISS.

This Soyuz launch targeted to deliver the Soyuz to an orbit at a 31.2-degree phase angle which is close to the highest-allowable angle for the four-orbit rendezvous. In case of any large insertion errors or problems in orbit, the mission would revert to the traditional rendezvous profile, coming at the cost of additional propellant to perform orbital maneuvers.

Photo: NASA

Photo: NASA

Initial ascent was by the book and the Soyuz jettisoned its four strap-on Boosters at T+1.58 after each booster consumed 40,200kg of propellants to provide extra thrust to the vehicle in the early portion of the flight. Powered by the 922-Kilonewton RD-108A engine, the Core Stage continued powered ascent. At T+2:37, the Launch Escape Tower and the Payload Shroud was jettisoned, exposing the Soyuz Spacecraft.

4 minutes and 45 second into the flight, the Core Stage shut down, concluding its burn as planned to hand off to the third stage that ignited two seconds later. At the same time, stage separation was initiated so that the spent stage was pushed away by the engine exhaust. The 298-kilonewton RD-0110 engine on the third stage which is a gas-generator engine, performed a 3-minute 58-second burn to boost the stack into orbit. The burn went as planned and Shutdown came at T+8:45 followed by Spacecraft Separation two seconds later.

The vehicle targeted a 200 by 242-Kilometer orbit at an inclination of 51.67 degrees. Immediately after spacecraft separation into its independent orbit, the Soyuz vehicle deployed its solar arrays and communication antennas to complete a successful orbital insertion.

With the crew successfully in orbit, the first record for this flight is already set - Pavel Vinogradov is now the oldest Russian to fly to space. At 59 years and nearly 7 months, Vinogradov is passing Valeri Ryumin who was 54 when completing his final space flight aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to the Mir Space Station. John Glenn still holds the record for the oldest person to go to space.

With Soyuz TMA-08M on the express lane to the Space Station, there is no time for much of a break for the three crew members. They will remain inside the Entry Module for the majority of the trip, however, they do have the option of opening the hatch to the Orbital Module briefly to use its toilet facility. Also, they stay in their Sokol Suits for the duration of the trip from T-4 hours 20 minutes until well after docking when ingressing the Orbital Module - wearing the suits for close to 11 hours. They will be able to open their helmets, remove their gloves and loosen their straps to be a little more comfortably - floating inside the small Entry Module to stretch their legs.

"The interesting thing from a human point of view is we don’t have the time to take off our spacesuits so we’ll be strapped in our seats in our spacesuits for the whole duration of that six-hour period plus the pre-launch activities. So it’ll be a long day and a lot of time in the suits," said Chris Cassidy in a pre-flight interview. "The Soyuz is a very small vehicle; it’s designed with a specific purpose and that’s to get crews up and down, and it does that in a fantastic job. It’s not the most comfortable vehicle to be in for an extended period of time."

Although the crew members will have an extended Flight Day 1 to perform the Rendezvous, the new flight profile has a number of advantages. This Flight Profile allows Soyuz to carry time-critical cargo to ISS. A greater cargo load is also possible as the Orbital Module is essentially unused for the trip to ISS. Also, a short nominal mission can extend timelines used in case of problems during the rendezvous because the fast rendezvous results in a much shorter use of the Soyuz’ resources such as Oxygen or CO2 scrubbing capability.

"Of course, it’s going to be a long workday for the crew," said Soyuz TMA-08M commander Pavel Vinogradov. "We will have to stay up for a very long time, but I think it’s much more efficient. We will be able to deliver experiments that require fast delivery on board, and I think this is the most important here."

Soyuz TMA-08M is set for a busy schedule to increase its orbital altitude and link up with ISS in under six hours as docking to the Poisk Module is planned at 2:32 UTC on Friday morning.

*File Image* - Photo: NASA

In its first orbit around Earth, Soyuz TMA-08M will perform two burns of its 2,900-Newton SKD Propulsion System - one at T+42 and one at T+83 minutes changing the vehicle's velocity by 20.6 and 13.75m/s, respectively, to achieve an orbit of 266 by 288 Kilometers. These two burns are planned ahead of launch and their parameters are fixed, all subsequent burns have pre-launch parameters, but are adjusted based on in-flight tracking data. The next two firings are 7-m/s burns taking place at T+123 and T+153 minutes to target an orbit of 286 by 309 Kilometers.

Just after midnight UTC, the Space Station will prepare for the docking by handing Guidance & Navigation Control over to the Russian Segment to start the maneuver to the docking attitude at 0:25 UTC. At 0:26:29, the Soyuz initiates its automated Rendezvous sequence, starting out in an orbit well below the 410-Kilometer orbit of ISS.

The sequence features two large Rendezvous burns followed by a number of Rendezvous impulses to first increase the orbital altitude of the Soyuz and then slow the vehicle down as it approaches the Space Station. As the rendezvous continues, the Soyuz establishes a VHF voice link with ISS for communications relay. Also, the KURS Systems of the Station and Soyuz are powered up to provide relative position, range and range rate data to the Soyuz onboard computers. KURS is checked several times to make sure it is working properly. The rendezvous and docking of the Soyuz is fully automated, but Pavel Vinogradov will be monitoring his vehicle's performance very closely, ready to take action and perform a manual docking if needed.

As the vehicle gets close to ISS, a number of braking maneuvers are executed and at a distance of 400 meters, the Soyuz begins its slow Flyaround - making a lap around ISS to align itself with the Poisk docking module. Once in position about 170 to 190 meters from the docking port, Soyuz begins a period of Stationkeeping to give controllers the opportunity to perform another systems and alignment check before allowing the vehicle to make its final approach.

Around 10 minutes ahead of docking, the final approach begins with a small firing of the thrusters of the Soyuz to initiate a small closing rate. Once final approach is initiated, Soyuz will cover the final 170-200 meters to its docking port for a docking at a gentle velocity of about 0.1m/s. Docking is planned for 2:32 UTC.

Once relative motion between the Soyuz and ISS has dampened out, Hooks will be closed to form a hard mate between the two spacecraft.

After docking, the crew aboard the Soyuz will be able to ingress the Orbital Module and begin the nominal leak checks of the vestibule between Soyuz and ISS to make sure the seal is tight. At that point, the crew members will finally be able to get out of their launch and entry suits and put on more comfortable flight overalls.

Hatch opening is scheduled for 4:10 UTC.

A detailed flight profile overview from launch to docking can be found here.

Soyuz rolled to Launch Pad for Liftoff with three Crew Members on Thursday

March 26, 2013

Photo: RSC Energia

The Soyuz FG Launch Vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-08M Spacecraft has been rolled to its Launch Pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, after completing final launch preparations. Rollout was performed on Tuesday morning, local time, to begin nominal L-2 operations in preparation for liftoff on Thursday. To get ready for its mission, the Soyuz TMA-08M Spacecraft completed hazardous processing at the Cosmodrome. For that, the Soyuz spacecraft was moved to a dedicated facility where these activities took place. The Propellant Tanks of the Vehicle were filled with 800kg of Nitrogen Tetroxide Oxidizer and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine that will be used by the Soyuz Main Propulsion System and Reaction Control Engines.

Nitrogen and Oxygen gases were loaded into the gas tanks of the vehicle and are used for environmental control. Two Helium Spheres have been loaded with high-pressure Helium that will be used for Propellant Tank Pressurization in orbit.

Once fueling was complete, the Soyuz was moved to the Spacecraft Processing Facility again to be docked to its payload adapter before undergoing a final inspection. On March 22, the Soyuz was rolled to a horizontal position to be inserted into the payload shroud. Once encapsulated, the stack was rolled to the launcher integration facility on March 24.

On the 24th&25th, teams were busy completing the launcher integration process. The Soyuz in its shroud was attached to the third stage of the Soyuz FG before the Launch Escape Tower was attached to the vehicle. The stack was then installed on the Core Stage that had its four strap-on boosters mated earlier.

Photo: RSC Energia

Photo: RSC Energia

A round of testing was completed and the Russian State Commission gave the green light for rollout to Site 1/5 of the Cosmodrome, the very launch pad Yuri Gagarin launched from in 1961 to become the first human in space. Rollout was performed bright and early in the morning, local time, as part of a tradition dating back to the rollout of Gagarin's launcher.

As soon as the Soyuz arrived at its launch pad, the vehicle was put in its vertical launch position. Later, the two halves of the Service Structure were placed around the launcher to provide protection and access platforms for workers. L-2 operations have gotten underway to perform the final pre-launch procedures to put the Soyuz in the correct configuration for flight.

The three crew members, Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy, have entered pre-flight quarantine several days ago. They participated in conferences with mission control teams to discuss what's ahead for them once arriving at ISS. Also, they underwent pre-flight medical exams and continued with training operations to keep up proficiency for their flight to ISS.

Countdown operations are getting underway on Thursday to set the stage for liftoff at 20:43:22 UTC. Soyuz FG will place the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft onto an express trajectory to ISS for docking after a 4-Orbit rendezvous at 2:31 UTC on Friday.

Soyuz Crew completes final Launch Preparations at Baikonur Cosmodrome

March 18, 2013

Final launch preparations are underway at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the launch of Soyuz TMA-08M on March 28, 2013 to bring the Expedition 35/36 crew to the International Space Station after a 4-Orbit Rendezvous. The three crew members, Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Aleksandr Misurkin and Chris Cassidy, arrived at the Cosmodrome on Saturday to begin their final preparations for liftoff. On Monday, the crew members began a busy day of final training sessions. They donned their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits to perform a fit and leak check before going to the MIK Spacecraft Processing Facility where their Soyuz is being processed. The crew was able to ingress the vehicle and perform a fit check of their Kazbek Seat Liners and to familiarize themselves with the situation on board. Also, they went through final simulations. This dress rehearsal is done to allow the crew members to familiarize themselves with the cargo situation on board since most cargo has already been placed aboard the vehicle except a small number of time-critical payloads that will be loaded shortly before launch. The three backup crew members also had a chance to inspect he Soyuz. Also on Monday, the State Commission conducted a review of the launch preparations and gave the green light to transport the Soyuz spacecraft to the fueling facility to load it with storable propellants and compressed gases. The vehicle will be filled with Nitrogen Tetroxide Oxidizer and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine that will be used by the Soyuz Main Propulsion System and Reaction Control Engines, as well as Helium for tank pressurization and Nitrogen and Oxygen for cabin pressurization. After propellant loading is complete, the Soyuz will return to its test stand for final inspections and processing before being encapsulated in the protective payload shroud for the move to the Launcher Integration Facility. There, the Soyuz FG rocket will be fully assembled ahead of rollout and launch operations.

Soyuz TMA-08M & its Crew prepare for record-setting Flight to ISS

March 6, 2013

Photo: NASA

The next Soyuz Mission to the International Space Station has been approved to use the new Soyuz/Progress 4-Orbit Rendezvous Profile. NASA, Roscosmos and the international partners of the ISS Program approved the mission to perform an expedited Rendezvous after being launched into orbit on March 28, 2013. This new flight profile has been tested on three unmanned Progress resupply flight to ISS in 2012 and 2013. Progress M-16M, M-17M and M-18M executed a quick rendezvous with ISS, performing an automated docking about six hours after being launched - a little less than most Trans-Atlantic flights. Docking just a few hours after launch is not a new idea, though. In the early space program, notably Gemini on the US side and the first docking missions of the Soyuz on the Soviet side, rendezvous within just a few hours after launch was common practice.

Later, the rendezvous was stretched over a period of days, typically two days, to allow crew members more time to adapt to microgravity and to safe fuel or allow a longer launch window by launching vehicles into orbits at greater phase angles to their target orbit.

Recently, the fast-rendezvous was put back on the table because these concerns are not existing anymore and the fast rendezvous offers a number of advantages for manned space flight. Crew members usually don't require several days to adapt to microgravity because training procedures have improved since the start of the space program so that crew members can usually get used to weightlessness in just a few hours.

The expedited Rendezvous brings a number of advantages for manned missions of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as it would allow crews to reach the comforts of ISS faster. It is known that the 2-day ride inside the confined space of the Soyuz Vehicle can be stressful for the crew members.

"The Soyuz is a very small vehicle; it’s designed with a specific purpose and that’s to get crews up and down, and it does that in a fantastic job. It’s not the most comfortable vehicle to be in for an extended period of time," said Chris Cassidy, Soyuz TMA-08M Flight Engineer. "The toilet is right next to where you sleep which is right next to your buddy and eating and all. [...] It’s very scrunched. So the benefit to us is we get to the space station faster with the facilities that it offers - a much more comfortable type of environment to be in."

Also, a short nominal mission can extend timelines used in case of problems during the rendezvous because the fast rendezvous results in a much shorter use of the Soyuz’ resources such as Oxygen or CO2 scrubbing capability. For Soyuz, a total of two additional contingency life support days could be gained by shortening the primary nominal mission timeline.

Additionally, this Flight Profile allows Soyuz to carry time-critical cargo to ISS. A greater cargo load is also possible. However, the vehicle still has to fulfill its nominal functions and offer enough space to the crew members in case the flight has to be switched for the conventional two-day rendezvous for some reason.

Although the fast rendezvous has its advantages, it comes at a cost. To successfully execute a fast rendezvous, the insertion orbit of the spacecraft has to be at a low initial phase angle to that of the space station to reduce the amount of phasing maneuvers that need to be performed. For the 4-orbit rendezvous, the phase angle between the Progress/Soyuz and ISS has to be smaller than 30 degrees, while a two-day rendezvous allows more time for phasing maneuvers and thus increases the allowable phase angle between the two orbits to 270 degrees.

Photo: NASA

From the Baikonur Cosmodrome, fast-rendezvous launch opportunities come every three days and require lots of preparation by the Space Station program. ISS has to perform a number of small reboosts to set up proper phasing and position itself correctly to allow a fast rendezvous for a particular launch opportunity. Should an unexpected event like a Debris Avoidance Maneuver be required, ISS would move out of position and the Soyuz/Progress would have to revert back to its two-day rendezvous profile.

Additionally, to achieve the proper trajectory for a 4-orbit rendezvous, the launch vehicle has to place the spacecraft in a precise insertion orbit. Should any larger insertion errors occur, the spacecraft would have to make additional breaking maneuvers to switch back to the 34-orbit rendezvous which would present an unwanted fuel consumption.

Whether the new flight profile will actually be taking stress away from crew members is yet to be seen. For the 4-orbit flight profile, the three Soyuz crew members would not exit their seats and remain inside their Sokol Suits after launch, tracking the progress of their flight and reconfiguring their spacecraft for docking from inside the Entry module. The hatch to the orbital module remains closed for the duration of the free flight. "Of course, it’s going to be a long workday for the crew," said Soyuz TMA-08M commander Pavel Vinogradov. "We will have to stay up for a very long time, but I think it’s much more efficient. We will be able to deliver experiments that require fast delivery on board, and I think this is the most important here."

The modified flight profile calls for four major engine burns during the first two orbits to begin the automated rendezvous sequence on orbit #3 for docking after just four orbits around Earth.

This means that the crew members will be having a relatively long flight Day 1 after waking up about six hours ahead of launch.

Sokol suit ingress occurs 4 hours and 20 minutes ahead of launch. With docking about 6 hours into the flight and post-dock operations also requiring some time, the crew members need to wear their Sokol suits close to 11 hours.

"The interesting thing from a human point of view is we don’t have the time to take off our spacesuits so we’ll be strapped in our seats in our spacesuits for the whole duration of that six-hour period plus the pre-launch activities. So it’ll be a long day and a lot of time in the suits," said Cassidy.

Roscosmos has penciled in the remaining two Soyuz mission of 2013, TMA-09M and TMA-10M, to use the expedited rendezvous as well, but NASA and the international partners have not approved those flights yet. Teams want to get feedback from the crew first, regarding the workload and comfort during their record-setting trip to ISS.

Photo: Tsenki

Soyuz TMA-08M Processing

Currently, the Soyuz TMA-08M Spacecraft is undergoing final processing inside the Spacecraft Processing Facility MIK 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome where it arrived in mid-January. The vehicle is put through a number if inspections and processing steps ahead of launch including cargo loading, hazardous processing and inspections/simulations involving the the spacecraft and its crew once they arrive at the Cosmodrome two weeks before launch.

The three crew members and their backups are still at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia, where final Soyuz and ISS Exams are being performed to give both crews clearance for flight.

Soyuz TMA-08M is planned to launch from Baikonur at 20:43 UTC on March 28. Docking to the Rassvet module of ISS is planned at 2:31 UTC on March 29 - 5 hours and 48 minutes after launch. The fastest of docking in ISS history occurred during the Mission of Progress M-16M that just needed 5 hours and 43 minutes from launch to docking.

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